No Mercy (T.I. album)
No Mercy is the seventh studio album by American rapper T.I., released on December 7, 2010, by Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2009 to 2010. Production was handled by several record producers, including Kanye West, Polow da Don, The-Dream, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, The Neptunes, TrackSlayerz, Jake One, T-Minus, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Rico Love, Alex da Kid, Nard & B, Drew Money, and Hollywood Hot Sauce, DJ Toomp, Jim Jonsin, Lil' C, Danja, The Smash Factory, Dr. Luke, among others. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 159,000 copies in its first week in the United States. It attained international charting and produced by the lead single "Get Back Up". Due to violating his parole stemming from a drug arrest, T.I. was forced to alter things, including the album's intended bellicose tone and its title, from "King Uncaged" to current incarnation "No Mercy". Additionally, four purported singles failed to make the final cut. Upon its release, No Mercy received mixed reviews from most music critics. On January 14, 2011, the Recording Industry Association of America certified No Mercy gold for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. A vinyl edition of the album was released on February 22, 2011. Background During an interview with MTV, T.I. confirmed that he had started recording for an album that would be released in 2010 following his release from prison. In February 2010, Jason Geter, T.I.'s manager and co-founder of Grand Hustle Records, said that the album is slated for a summer release. Rap-Up reported that the album is slated to be released around the same time as T.I.'s upcoming film project, Takers. It was later confirmed to be released on August 24, 2010. The release date was pushed up one week to August 17, 2010. The album was placed for pre-order on June 14, 2010. In an interview with Rolling Stone, T.I. stated that the album was the final album in a trilogy that started with T.I. vs. T.I.P. and included Paper Trail. On March 1, 2010, Atlantic Records created a Twitter account to keep the public informed about T.I. news. Atlantic Records said a major announcement would take place on T.I.'s official site, TrapMuzik.com, on March 8, 2010. This announcement was the release of the first single from the album. On April 1, 2010, T.I. posted the first post-prison interview on his website and he described the album's direction being "more aggressive. It’s going hard like classic T.I.". T.I. announced that the album would be titled King Uncaged on April 15, 2010. T.I. stated he would refrain from "gun talk" on this release. Recording T.I. had recorded 20 songs for the album in April 2009 and said that the recording style of the album would be a mix of writing his lyrics down and free-styling. In December 2009, former Warner Music Group executive, Kevin Liles, posted a message on his Twitter saying that T.I. was recording new material for a new album. Jim Jonsin told Rap-Up that "It doesn’t seem like he missed a beat." On May 25, 2010, T.I. stated that he recorded 80 songs for the album. Jason Geter said that T.I. has been in the studio with Lil' C, DJ Toomp, Danja, The Runners and TrackSlayerz. He also said that much of the album's production would come from new producers. In an interview with Vibe, the production duo, TrackSlayerz, confirmed that they recorded three songs with T.I., including "I'm Back". DJ Toomp confirmed that he had already worked three songs with T.I. and plans to record two more. Vibe reported that Swizz Beatz has been contributing production to the album. Hip-hop DX reported that Drumma Boy will contribute to the project as well. Just Blaze revealed that he contributed four beats to the project. In an interview with Hot 107.9, T.I. stated Smash Factory, Timbaland and Dr. Luke had contributed production to the album as well. Jason Geter confirmed potential features from The-Dream and Trey Songz. The-Dream commented on his work with T.I. saying "sounds great. He's sounding beautiful. His spirit is really good. He's got the eye of the tiger." Rap-Up had reported that T.I. has been recording with fellow Grand Hustle artist B.o.B, one track was confirmed by B.o.B being titled "Dream Me Up" with production from Cut the Check. In an interview with Vibe, DJ Toomp revealed that T.I. was looking to get André 3000 as a feature on the album. MTV reported that T.I. confirmed collaborations from Lady Gaga, Kid Rock, Young Dro, Mac Boney and Eminem. T.I. told Rolling Stone about the content he had recorded, "some songs talk about my time in prison — how I was affected by that, the way I've grown from that, things I see now that I may have not seen then, sometimes I talk about love, some songs I talk about life, some songs I talk about me being the shit on every level." Kanye West recorded six songs for the album at Avex Honolulu Studios in Honolulu, Hawaii. T.I. told MTV's Jayson Rodriguez that the song "Castle Walls" (featuring Christina Aguilera) originally belonged to Diddy who had commissioned the song for his fifth album Last Train to Paris with his group Dirty Money. But Diddy told T.I. "Yeah, this is my record, but you know what, I think this is a better fit for you. I think you should rock out on this one. I think this speaks volumes to where you are, what you going through, what you living and how you feel." Title change The album was originally intended to be titled King Uncaged. The cover features T.I., in front of a stark white background, sunk deep into a wicker throne, a lion standing by his side: however, after T.I. was sent back to prison, the title and cover were altered. On October 25, 2010, T.I. announced on The Rickey Smiley Show that the album would now be titled No Mercy. Release and promotion In preparation for the album's release, T.I. released a promotional mixtape titled Fuck a Mixtape with DJ Drama and DJ MLK. The mixtape was released on May 27, 2010. Track listing 1. "Welcome to the World" (featuring Kanye West & Kid Cudi) 2. "How Life Changed" (featuring Mitchelle'L & Scarface) 3. "Get Back Up" (featuring Chris Brown) 4. "I Can't Help It" (featuring Rocko) 5. "That's All She Wrote" (featuring Eminem) 6. "No Mercy" (featuring The-Dream) 7. "Big Picture" 8. "Strip" (featuring Young Dro & Trey Songz) 9. "Salute" 10. "Amazing" (featuring Pharrell) 11. "Everything on Me" 12. "Poppin Bottles" (featuring Drake) 13. "Lay Me Down" (featuring Rico Love) 14. "Castle Walls" (featuring Christina Aguilera) Bonus tracks 15. "I'm Back" 16. "Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" 17. "Got Your Back" (featuring Keri Hilson) 18. "Ya Hear Me" 19. "Pledge Allegiance to the Swag" (featuring Rick Ross) 20. "Follow Your Dreams" (featuring Shun Hendrix) (iTunes Pre-Order Only) 21. "That's What I Thought" (featuring Mac Boney & Killer Mike) (Target and Amazon bonus track) 22. "Like So" (Target and Amazon bonus track) Samples * "Lay Me Down" – Contains a sample from "Clear" by Cybotron. * "Strip" – Contains a sample from "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)" by The Delfonics. List of singles * "Get Back Up" Released: October 29, 2010 * "That's All She Wrote" Released: January 11, 2011 * "Poppin Bottles" Released: May 17, 2011 Personnel * Links * See Also * List of Albums Category:Wikipedia Category:T.I. albums Category:Grand Hustle Records albums Category:Albums Category:2010's Hip-Hop Category:2011 hip-hop Category:2011 albums Category:American hip-hop Category:American hip-hop albums